Combining genetic and demographic data for the conservation of a Mediterranean habitat-forming species

The integration of ecological and evolutionary data is highly valuable for conservation planning. However, it has been rarely used in the marine realm, where the adequate design of marine protected areas (MPAs) is urgently needed. Here, we examined the interacting processes underlying the patterns of genetic structure and demographic strucuture of a highly vulnerable Mediterranean habitat-forming species (i.e. Paramuricea clavata (Risso, 1826)), with particular emphasis on the processes of contemporary dispersal, genetic drift, and colonization of a new population. Isolation by distance and genetic discontinuities were found, and three genetic clusters were detected; each submitted to variations in the relative impact of drift and gene flow. No founder effect was found in the new population. The interplay of ecology and evolution revealed that drift is strongly impacting the smallest, most isolated populations, where partial mortality of individuals was highest. Moreover, the eco-evolutionary analyses entailed important conservation implications for P. clavata. Our study supports the inclusion of habitat-forming organisms in the design of MPAs and highlights the need to account for genetic drift in the development of MPAs. Moreover, it reinforces the importance of integrating genetic and demographic data in marine conservation.

Single period Markowitz portfolio selection, performance gauging and duality: a variation on Luenberger's shortage function

Markowitz portfolio theory (1952) has induced research into the efficiency of portfolio management. This paper studies existing nonparametric efficiency measurement approaches for single period portfolio selection from a theoretical perspective and generalises currently used efficiency measures into the full mean-variance space. Therefore, we introduce the efficiency improvement possibility function (a variation on the shortage function), study its axiomatic properties in the context of Markowitz efficient frontier, and establish a link to the indirect mean-variance utility function. This framework allows distinguishing between portfolio efficiency and allocative efficiency. Furthermore, it permits retrieving information about the revealed risk aversion of investors. The efficiency improvement possibility function thus provides a more general framework for gauging the efficiency of portfolio management using nonparametric frontier envelopment methods based on quadratic optimisation.

Euroregión y pragmatismo: El Fondo Común Euskadi-Aquitania

Creat el 1990, el Fons Comú Euskadi-Aquitània ha demostrat la seva eficiència en matèria de finançament de projectes ransfronterers. Entre els factors que expliquen aquests resultats cal destacar els vincles transfronterers locals previs sobre els quals s'erigeix ​​el Fons. La voluntat comuna de crear un eix regional central a la costa atlàntica i l'equilibri de les forces olítiques basques i aquitanes afavoreixen també la cooperació. No obstant això, el Fons s'enfronta actualment a un dilema important: d'una banda seguir impulsant els projectes locals que neixen esporàdicament, i per altra institucionalitzar a nivell regional aquestes col · laboracions per a formar xarxes duradores.

El general Curial y la literatura

En el pilar Este del Arco de Triunfo de la Avenida de los Campos Elíseos cualquier curioso puede leer, en la columna 17, el nombre de Curial. Fue uno de los generales de Napoleón y está tras Carra Saint-Cyr y Decouz y antes de Beaumont. También París le dedicó una calle al general Curial, en el distrito 19; junto a ella se construyó el primer servicio de Pompas Fúnebres, inaugurado en 1874, hoy convertido en centro cultural; y en la ciudad de Chambéry, un antiguo cuartel, también reconquistado por la cultura, lleva asimismo su nombre: Carré Curial.